Lecture 05
Lecture 05
SOFTWARE VERIFICATION
AND VALIDATION
Oshadhi Munasinghe
[email protected]
WHAT IS SOFTWARE QUALITY?
Chapter 5
AFTER COMPLETING THIS CHAPTER,
Yes
SOFTWARE ERRORS, FAULTS AND FAILURES
Software
Defects
Software errors can enter the system when the professional who design the system- system
architects, software engineers, analysts etc. formulate the requirements.
➢ Definitions that represent software requirements by mean of erroneous
algorithms.
➢ Process definitions that contain sequential errors
➢ Erroneous definition of boundary conditions
➢ Omission of required software system states. (real time
computerized apparatus)
➢Omission of definitions concerning reactions to illegal operation of the software
systems.
5. CODING ERRORS
Almost every development unit has its own documentation and coding
standards that define the content, order and format of the documents, and the
code created by team members.
• If there is a “non –complying” team member,
➢It may be hard to understand by others (during collaboration and
replacement)
➢ It will reduce the efficiency of the design and code review teams
➢Maintenance teams required to contend with the “bugs” detected by users
and to change or add to the existing software will face difficulties when
trying to understand the software and its documentation.
7. SHORTCOMINGS OF THE TESTING PROCESS
Shortcomings of the testing process affect the error rate by leaving a grater number of
errors undetected or uncorrected.
• Incomplete test plans leave untreated portions of the software or the application
functions and states of the systems
• Failures to document and report detected errors and faults
• Failures to promptly correct detected software faults as a result of inappropriate
indications of the reasons for the fault.
• Incomplete correction of detected errors due to negligence or time pressures.
8. PROCEDURE ERRORS
Procedures direct the user with respect to the activities required at each step of the
process.
They are of special importance in complex software systems where the processing is
conducted in several steps, each of which may feed a variety of types of data and allow for
examination of the intermediate results.
➢ E.g. : Consider the procedures related to a telecom billing application (post-paid)
o Extracting records from switches
o Mediation (extract/decode the relevant information)
o Feed data to the billing/rating app (done at the end of the
billing cycle, tariff may depend on type package, etc)
o Making invoices (loyalty points, debts, discounts, etc)
9. DOCUMENTATION ERRORS
• The documentation errors that trouble the development and maintenance
teams are errors in the design documents and in the coding documentation
integrated into the body of the software.(User manuals, On-line help)
▪ Omission of software functions in user documentation
▪ Errors in the explanations and instructions given to users, resulting in “dead end”
or incorrect applications
▪ Listing of non existing software functions, that is functions planned in the early
stages of development but later dropped, and functions that were active in
previous versions of the software but cancelled in the current version
▪ Reasons for documentation errors include human failure to understand earlier
documentation, negligence to complete documentation tasks and failure to
phrase correctly the required text.
CAUSES OF ERRORS